Merry and Bright

Christmas at our house was a rather low-key delight fest.  I've learned to be less ambitious with my postpartum plans, so we scaled everything back, but still upheld our established traditions (at least the ones the kids would have missed).





There weren't a lot of "filler" gifts, but there was a new TV for Mr Renn and a Wii, a mini trampoline, and tumbling mats for the boys, so plenty of "wow" factor that morning.  Can you tell how my winters usually go by the gift selection?



We did our traditional rounds, visiting my grandparents and ending at my parents' house.  (Mr Renn's parents are in Argentina or we'd have visited them too.)  Our kids about doubled their gift count there.




All in all it was delightful, although my kids with so much sugar and so little sleep are destined for crashing.  As a child the end of Christmastime was nearly tragic, but as a parent I find I am ready for it once it comes.  A return to routine and an end to the steady stream of junk food sounds good come January.  But I do miss getting Christmas cards in the mail, they are very nearly my favorite thing about Christmas.  Almost as favorite as Sir O and the Captain remembering what Christmas is all about.



Those two had the New testament nativity accounts memorized by the end of the season.  (It helped that we sing Handel's Messiah so regularly at our house.)  With a few prompts Sir O could recite the whole thing.  Made me happy to have that story so familiar to them.